US Issues Visas For Iran’s Top Leadership

The United States has issued visas allowing Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to travel to New York for the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations next week, Iran’s UN mission said on Thursday.

Iran’s foreign minister spokesman said in a tweet that Zarif was set to leave for New York on Friday. Zarif said earlier on Thursday that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was trying to delay issuing visas for the Iranian delegation to the upcoming United Nations General Assembly.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had declined to comment specifically on the case on Wednesday, saying “We don’t talk about granting or absence of granting of visas.” “If you’re connected to a foreign terrorist organisation, I don’t know,” he added. “Seems to me it would be a reason to think about whether they have to be permitted to attend a meeting which is about peace.”

Any U.S. or Saudi military strike against Iran would bring “all-out war”, Tehran said on Thursday, keeping up a drumbeat of warnings to its adversaries after they accused the Islamic Republic of a strike on Saudi oil facilities.

The United States has been discussing with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf allies possible responses to Saturday’s attack, which they blame on Iran and which U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described as an act of war on the kingdom.